Before I moved to St. Edward’s, I studied a year at Brunel University, West London. University in England is nothing like how things work at St. Edward’s. I’m so glad I moved.

Not to put anyone off or anything, but if you have a three-second concentration span like myself and would rather be Snapchatting from the back row of an auditorium during lectures than listening to a 65-year-old professor that isn’t even aware of your existence rambling on about God knows what, then maybe a change is in order.

From personal experience, this is how it works: you’re sat in a lecture hall with about 200 students of the same major as you. In England, once you are at university, you don’t have to study any classes but major-related ones that you need to earn your degree. So as a Kinesiology major, that would eliminate any Culf, Spanish, Math, Art, Rhetoric and Comp classes, etc, and leave me to concentrate on Kinesiology classes only. With there being so many students in one lecture hall at a time, it’s almost certain your professor does not know who you are, let alone notice whether you show up or not. It’s not like they pass a piece of paper round 200 students to take role. It really is up to you whether you want to get out of bed and be there or not––after all, it’s no one’s degree but your own. With the typical university program only being 3 years in England, your first year’s grades do not count towards your final degree grade, and with only needing the bare minimum to continue onto second year (an E or above to be exact), where is the motivation? Even I passed first year and couldn’t tell you where one of my lecture halls was.

One of the benefits that I think students get out of this though is the ability to be more independent and grow up a lot quicker. Things aren’t spoon-fed to you in England like they are here. If you want to earn your degree, you have to work for it on your own. Your professors aren’t going to chase you if you don’t attend lecture, and you don’t have to email them saying you will be absent. I don’t even know if I had any of my professors’ email addresses! It gives us more of a sense of the real world and in that year, believe it or not, I really grew up a lot (even if it was from the comfort of my dorm room).

Being taught in such a different way at St. Edwards to the way it was at Brunel University has really helped me a lot. That’s not to say that I have to be spoon-fed, but I much prefer being in small classrooms with a more personal sense of teaching, receiving that extra little guidance and actually having a relationship with my professors.  My grades have improved so much since being here. Also, although I complain about classes all the time, particularly the ones I don’t even need to be studying for, I am grateful that I get the opportunity to expand my knowledge and learn about a broader range of subjects. You can’t be a one trick pony all your life!